I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4047 

To amend chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, to ensure that 

new vehicles enable fuel competition so as to reduce the strategic importance of oil to the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2015 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ISRAEL, and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, 

to ensure that new vehicles enable fuel competition so 

as to reduce the strategic importance of oil to the United 

States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Fuel Act of 

5 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OPEN FUEL REQUIREMENT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES. 

2 Chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by inserting after section 32905 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘§ 32905A. Open fuel requirement for motor vehicles. 

6 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided in sub7 section (c), each manufacturer’s fleet of covered vehicles 

8 for a particular model year shall be comprised of— 

9 ‘‘(1) not less than 30 percent qualified vehicles 

10 beginning in model year 2018; and 

11 ‘‘(2) not less than 50 percent qualified vehicles 

12 beginning in model year 2019 and each subsequent 

13 year. 

14 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—As used in this 

15 section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered vehicle’ means a pas17 senger automobile, and includes a light-duty motor 

18 vehicle; 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘qualified vehicle’ means covered 

20 vehicle that— 

21 ‘‘(A) has been warranted by its manufac22 turer to operate on natural gas, hydrogen, or 

23 biodiesel; 

24 ‘‘(B) is a flexible fuel vehicle; 

25 ‘‘(C) is a plug-in electric drive vehicle; 


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1 ‘‘(D) is propelled solely by a fuel cell that 

2 produces power without the use of petroleum or 

3 a petroleum-based fuel; or 

4 ‘‘(E) is propelled solely by something other 

5 than an internal combustion engine, and pro6 duces power without the use of petroleum or a 

7 petroleum-based fuel; 

8 ‘‘(3) the term ‘flexible fuel vehicle’ means a ve9 hicle that has been warranted by its manufacturer to 

10 operate on gasoline, E85, and M85; 

11 ‘‘(4) the term ‘E85’ means a fuel mixture con12 taining up to 85 percent ethanol and meets the 

13 standards of ASTM D5798; 

14 ‘‘(5) the term ‘M85’ means a fuel mixture con15 taining up to 85 percent methanol and meets the 

16 standards of ASTM D5797; 

17 ‘‘(6) the term ‘biodiesel’ means diesel fuel which 

18 has been produced from a non-petroleum feedstock 

19 and which meets the standards of ASTM D6751–03; 

20 ‘‘(7) the term ‘plug-in electric drive vehicle’ has 

21 the meaning given such term in section 508(a)(5) of 

22 the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 

23 13258(a)(5)); and 

24 ‘‘(8) the term ‘light-duty motor vehicle’ means 

25 a light-duty truck or light-duty vehicle as such terms 


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1 are defined in section 216(7) of the Clean Air Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 7550(7)) of less than or equal to 8,500 

3 pounds gross vehicle weight rating. 

4 ‘‘(c) TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM REQUIRE5 MENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—A manufacturer may re7 quest an exemption from the requirement described 

8 in subsection (a) by submitting an application to the 

9 Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and con10 taining such information as the Secretary may re11 quire by regulation. Each such application shall 

12 specify the models, lines, and types of automobiles 

13 affected. 

14 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—After evaluating an appli15 cation received from a manufacturer, the Secretary 

16 may at any time, under such terms and conditions, 

17 and to such extent as the Secretary considers appro18 priate, temporarily exempt, or renew the exemption 

19 of, a light-duty motor vehicle from the requirement 

20 described in subsection (a) if the Secretary deter21 mines that unavoidable events not under the control 

22 of the manufacturer prevent the manufacturer of 

23 such automobile from meeting its required produc24 tion volume of qualified automobiles, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a disruption in the supply of any 

2 component required for compliance with the 

3 regulations; or 

4 ‘‘(B) a disruption in the use and installa5 tion by the manufacturer of such component. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONSOLIDATION.—The Secretary may 

7 consolidate applications received from multiple man8 ufacturers under subparagraph (A) if they are of a 

9 similar nature. 

10 ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS.—Any exemption granted 

11 under paragraph (2) shall be conditioned upon the 

12 manufacturer’s commitment to recall the exempted 

13 automobiles for installation of the omitted compo14 nents within a reasonable time proposed by the man15 ufacturer and approved by the Secretary after such 

16 components become available in sufficient quantities 

17 to satisfy both anticipated production and recall vol18 ume requirements. 

19 ‘‘(5) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall publish in 

20 the Federal Register— 

21 ‘‘(A) notice of each application received 

22 from a manufacturer; 

23 ‘‘(B) notice of each decision to grant or 

24 deny a temporary exemption; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the reasons for granting or denying 

2 such exemptions. 

3 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul5 gate regulations as necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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